#14 Jonathan: a priest

​“The Danites set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the Danite tribe until the time of the exile from the land.”

‭‭Judges‬ ‭18‬:‭30‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/jdg.18.30.HCSB

Judge #14 Jonathan: a priest

Jonathan the grandson of Moses is a Levite but not a Preist in the order of Aaron. He grew up in Bethlehem in Judah but for reasons unknown, he left home and traveled up north to the hill country of Ephraim looking for a place to reside. Micah took him in and paid him four ounces of silver ($96) per year, room, and board to stay at his place to be a priest for him and his idol worship. 

But then five Danites show up in town and while camping they recognize the accent of a Judahian Priest. So they inquire about him and find that he is a priest and they ask him to ask the lord for the travels. For they had run out of room in the allotment Moses and Joshua had given them and were traveling farther north to seek new land for the Danite clan. 

“When the territory of the Danites slipped out of their control, they went up and fought against Leshem (Laish in Judges 18:29), captured it, and struck it down with the sword. So they took possession of it, lived there, and renamed Leshem after their ancestor Dan.”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭19‬:‭47‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/jos.19.47.HCSB

So after the Danites scout out Laish they head back home to grab up the whole Danite clan’s army and begin to march north. When they get to the hill country of Ephraim and steal the idols from Micah and hire Jonathan to be the priest of the whole tribe of Dan. There he and his descendants lived as priests for the tribe of Dan until the nation of Israel was taken captive.

The people who did the research suggest that this took place during the early judges and not at the end as it is in the book. Seeing that Jonathan was the grandson of Moses he may have been born in the wilderness, maybe around the age of Boaz, and saw Joshua leading Israel around Jericho. 

Jonathan had this flaw: he encouraged idol worship first, by not correcting Micah about his idol worship and second, by allowing the Danites to continue the worship of the stolen idols from Micah. He did not put his foot down and declare that God was to be worshiped! 

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have other gods besides Me. Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭2‬-‭6‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/exo.20.3-6.HCSB

What worship is allowed in our home, work, and church? Will we put our foot down and decide, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord,” only!

“But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.””

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/jos.24.15.HCSB

Joshua could have been talking to Jonathan in the crowd of Israelites as a future rebuke or correction of present-day sins.